Busy Holiday

'twas the festival of fertility and rebirth, or if you like, dead guy on a stick day (was that it) or as I like to call it and will continue hammering on about until I tire of it or forget it, which likely will be soon, Zombie Appreciation Day. Or it still is, I'm not sue of the status of Easter Tuesday, if that even is a thing, here or anywhere else. Anyway, Holiday. And oh how busy I've been! Sort of. Though I didn't actually go to work or do any work or do anything related to the organizing of future work that will bring much needed money that has more or less run out (both any work I seemed to be doing and the money) and it would be in my defense to state that it was a holiday and there's not so many opportunities for job seeking around at a time like this except it doesn't make much more than the slightest difference considering the sort of work I do if I ever get around to doing it, where I am and the resources I use to get that information, so only little excuses only there. What I have been doing is cleaning my room, oh wait I procrastinated but I actually did it the next day, I spoke like a ghost and I ate garlic, and lemon. Apart from that not much apart from the usual flupping around on the internet and watching tv.

Yes they are all shameless links to my videos. Don't watch them though, they're dumb.

A regular Monday.

The night before the night before it is. Well it's afternoon, but in a few minutes it will be dark so I can say night. It's officially a regular day, but it's that strange time, a normal working Monday after the weekend we had surfers here who we didn't really hang out with much but just having people here made it seem like there was something about it that filled up the time between boxing day and now that seems, strange. People have, for the most part simmered down on wishing Merry Christmas and fun and merriment and now are wishing us all a Happy 2014, and "Happy New Year" although at this moment, the year, the current one, is a pretty old one, very near to about as old as a year can get. Still, that's what they say. And here I am alone again, for it is a regular working day for people who are regular and who work, so I'm doing what I usually do, which is not much. Good excuse for that now, being "the holidays" and all.. and there's a new year coming up where everyone can start fresh and do things differently and do things better. That excuse will become invalid in less than a day and a half and I'll have to come up with a new reason not to let myself get utterly depressed at my total inability to do stuff. No.. that's setting myself up to fail already.. this year.. I mean next year will be the year. I mean I genuinely want to get out of this.. I don't know, case of being me, and I have to believe it's possible, so yes, next year all the things I promise I'll do, I shall. Maybe not right away.. I mean, I currently have in my throat what I will describe as a tickle, that will last I don't know how long, and depending on where and how cold it is tomorrow night and the very wee hours of '14, and what I get up to.. rather how much of it I get up to on that night.. I shan't be feeling the best right at the beginning of the year.. and the 1st is a holiday anyway.. and after that is the weekend, practically. So.. Monday the 6th is the day. A regular normal working Monday, not one that's in a purgatory week which is still sorta holidays and has a break in between and where the regular people have to clean out an inbox with thousands of messages because they took the entire previous week off because xmas fell on a Wednesday, but a totally normal day. And by then everyone will be over being over the festive thing which isn't really relevant to what I'm doing but is just a fact, and I will get on with it. What precisely I don't know, but there's a lot of it, and I hope to do at least some of it.

So it's winter.

Officially. This is news, I thought it was, um, I dunno. It's weird to me this whole "seasons starting halfway through the month thing". I'm not sure if they do that in the southern hemisphere or if, it's just me, can't be bothered to find out though it's possible to google it.

Anyway.. as far as I'm concerned winter starts on December 1. Unless you're in the southern hemisphere, that is. None of this.. solstice and equinox beginning seasons. Oh and don 't get me started on the beginning of summer, the summer solstice and midsummer for fucks sake I mean HOW CAN MIDSUMMER BE THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY!

So.. I.. forgot what I was going to say next.

Well anyway, it's the solstice, where I live it means that tomorrow will be about a minute longer than today, and the day after that yet another minute (or so thereabouts) longer and so on and so forth. This pleases me. It doesn't please me so much that it'll be at least another 2 months before it starts to be nearing reasonable hours of daylight but what can you do? Move I suppose but I won't be doing that.

Of course, the holidays are all happening in the middle of the next week, so it's big party time, something that pleases me as well as kind of.. I dunno, already tires me out, but it makes all this cold and dark better.
After all the partying will be Jan, which pleases (all the parties and shit that can get too much will be over) and displeases me (Jan sucks, it's still winter, the days are still to short, and all the parties and shit will be over, so it will be boring). Oh and it will be '14 which pleases me dorkily for reasons that are both probably obviousish, and stupid. And there will be stuff starting I hope which both pleases me and, something else.

How do I feel? Well.. going to see a really cool, favorite local band tonight so that's good.. of course, it's the last gig with their current singer, who sorta makes the band really so.. I dunno.

checking of the list..

apparently there's a sort of boxing day bingo checklist thing. I don't know if it's a thing but it's a thing I just saw, so, sort of a thing. Most of the squares deal with stuff that doesn't apply here in our household, being a couple of expats not living near relatives no kids not in the US (or UK where this particular checklist thing I have before me seems to originate from) so.. pretty much all but a few that reference drinking, in ways usually considered inappropriate, ie breakfast, and well.. drinking more. Those, I've already done a little bit.. I reckon there'll be enough of that to make up for all the rest. Oh and eating leftovers. The first thing I did, even more the booze. Still got more seasonal movies to watch, so might add that one to the list in lieu of one about someone's auntie. Hope everyone had a fun christmas if they bother with that stuff, a pleasant regular day if that's what it is and a peaceful time where no one bothers you if that's what you wanted.

It's got to be easier..

Life really should be simpler than this. That's what, (or something similar to that, "life should be much easier", "I thought you said it would make life easier", "things really should be easier", I remembered the exact words earlier, but I failed to note them right away) a I heard as I was walking a busy Prague street on the way to work earlier on.. they were said to a woman, carrying a large box, which looked like it had been filled with some kind of fruit or vegetable, but was now almost empty, with difficulty through the too narrow streets, full of people already experiencing christmastime.. by a distinguished sounding Englishman wearing a sorta Dr Who type coat.

Well it seemed intriguing at the time. I also saw some ghostbusters tonight... that is, I passed a car with the ghostbusters symbol on it. I didn't know they had those anymore :)

So work was, well, waiting around for no one to show up for a tour, but that meant I got to listen to the festive music in the Old Town Square, a colorful group of singers playing funky but whimsical songs about Jesus. Well.. you know.

Oh, and that reminds me, I came up with a cool new name for christmas, it is.. um.. shit, I think I forgot exactly how it goes already, one of those lying in bed half asleep inventions.

I remember. Magic Baby Saves the World holiday. It might sound silly, or even offensive to some.. but really, not that different from what those silver voiced youth were singing in our city tonight. Sorta.

All at once.. as usual.

Lots o stuff at the moment. Well for me.. yeah I always say that but it's true, normal people would consider this a slow week but for me.. etc etc etc..

Moving soon, so the place is a complete mess right now.. a total shambles, which is slightly annoying but I'm glad about being in a nice shiny new place soon.. not so much about the this bit, the moving bit, the being in the new place before everything is set up.. and in fact before we have much stuff bit, but if we could fast forward to the day when we have a perfectly furnished and decorated domicile, that would be cool. Actually started moving.. sorta, because we can. I find that cool.

Oh it's Easter.. Easter Sunday that is.. so I decorated eggs and stuff.. and the usual.. you know.. nothing else actually, except for posing for a photo in my ghost hunter's uniform for the website.. to go with my bio.. *gets all embarrassed at how cheesy it all is and stuff*.. kind of noyin to have to go in on a weekend again.. when I'm not actually working again, and for this weekend, a long weekend aga.. er.. well yeah, but it was ok, we incorporated a walk into it all and had a pleasant day.

There isn't much else really. I always make such a big deal out of having a few things to do. Have a happy easter all.

Pollen and bunnies and.. flat bread and stuff...

It's a week o holidays it is! Well... much of the world is celebrating the suffering and dying of their saviour on the cross today.. I know.. bo-ring! But.. it does bring later on.. (during that whole.. commemoration of him rising all that nicer but still boring stuff) chocolate and bunnies and for those of us in this part of the world.. whipping and throwing water on people.. so it's ok..

It's also Passover.. which is a Jewish holiday, basically.. we were enslaved in Europe then we were freed and we left and went to what is now the holy land.. awesome, let's eat! There's also a reading and something vaguely theatrical.. (correct me if I'm bumbling pathetically here).

Oh and Saturday (tomorrow) is children's day in Turkey. According to my source, Turkey is the first country ever to celebrate children's day! I actually don't know of any other country who does.. so they might still be the only one, I should google it but whatev.. they're definitely the first.

So happy those things, any other holidays there might be, various birthdays and name days happening today, lovely spring weather, beautiful autumn or the fact that you live in one of those places that's just warm all year. And anything I left out.

That halfway house they call... um..

what do they call it? They don't call it anything really, because it's not anything particular I'm talking about. I mean that weird time between xmas and the new year, where it's regular days, and it's sort of back to normal but there's that feeling hanging over you, that this thing everyone makes such a big deal about just came and there's this other thing coming that's sort of part of it so it's not over.. but you go to work like normal and if it's a year when christmas, and therefore the new year as well fall exactly on the weekend it's more than ever a normal week, but it's strange just the same.

Not that I go to work, really. Not that I've done any work, really, this working week.. well someone who I'm supposed to be working with is what I like to refer to as AWOL, so it's been checking emails and seeing if that site has got over the glitch so I can post stuff and it hasn't so it's been a typical week for me, ie, not working all that much at all.

My point is, it's weird. You thought I didn't have one didn't you? You thought that when I said "my point is" it would peter off and I'd admit that there isn't one.. but I have one. I might be getting better at this.

Well anyway.. that whole "writing proper" thing I wrote about will have to wait. Until next year probably.

Happy halfway house limbo or whatever.

Welcome to the week o holidays..

This week has a lot of holidays in it. S'true.. I know, christmas kind of overpowers everything but there are others.. you know.. I'll get to them when I get to them, and I might even make up a few (I think there's a non-holiday day in there) and repeat some we didn't do properly earlier but.. yeah, holidays..

today is the solstice, winter or summer depending on which hemisphere you're in, so it's either the longest day (o joy) or it's the shortest day in which case the days will get longer from here on out.. so drinks all round!

o and... woooo



Happy Holidays all!

True Bliss.

I've discovered today that Boxing Day is the most perfect of all the holidays that fall at this time of year. Both Christmas days are over, you've had dinner at your friend's, hosted dinner yourself, slept in after staying up really late because one of the movies your friend brought over is a 3 hour long arty western sort of number and today you have nothing to do but.. well nothing really. There are tons of leftovers and they have these channel things on the internet so you can watch sitcoms all day without getting up and selecting files.. it's like the old days when there was television! The sun was shining earlier on so I felt briefly that I should go outside but I got over that quick.

Happy December 26 everyone!

And for the rest of us...

it's time for a holiday. This is for the ba humbugs.. those that cringe at Christmas, hate Hanukah and scoff at the solstice, or alternatively people who celebrate every bullshit holiday that comes along. This is me, the one that celebrates every bullshit holiday. The particular bullshit holiday is Festivus. In the spirit of Festivus I'll won't bother explaining it to you and if you don't know what it is fucking google it.

So, I have my virtual pole up and it's time to air my grievances to you, that is, the world. So world, here they are:

1. Once again this year, wars have gone on. Now wars are very bad things, they kill a lot of people, destroy cities, homes and livelihoods, separate families and live on in the nightmares of all who have experienced them. It's still going on, it's horrific, and I fucking hate it!

2. Poverty (see also hunger) is still around. There are millions of people in the world living below the poverty line which is kind of vague but usually defined way too low. These people are often homeless, lacking in proper medical care and hungry (see hunger again) and not even in position to think about the kind of opportunities the better off people of the world have. And this is while a very small percentage of the world's population hold most of the wealth. I don't like it at all.

3. My socks never match! Just how the fuck does it happen that every time I take my socks out of the washing machine I end up with an odd number of socks, and out of those I get about 3 pairs, at least one of them which is pushing it, and 7 odd socks left over that just won't match up no matter how much I try? What the fuck world?

4. I have no money. Ok I have some but I always seem to be short. Ok, I don't have a proper job and am not going hugely out of my way to get one, and the business that I sorta do I sorta do very half heartedly but still!

5. No acting roles. Ok I was in a few student films but not too many and nothing better. Once again.. ok, see #4 I haven't bothered so much but you'd think one of these years I'd get "discovered" just by existing and not really have to work for this, I mean, it's supposed to be sort of like magic right? That's how it happens in the movies!

6. What is up with computers this year? I could go on about this and in fact have, but one computer continues to refuse to work, ok one did, the one I replaced it with wouldn't take my hard drive and would only take one installed with some patched up version of Linux which was good for practically nothing, and then that hard drive was taken away and has so far been replaced with nothing, and the other is old and slow and keeps giving me that hourglass thingy.. it's fucking infuriating!

7. Really bad things are still around. I know I covered some of it with war and poverty, but there's still other terrible things around, in this day and age, like inequality, bigotry, continued degradation of the environment and all sorts of things I should be paying more attention to but am distracted by things like socks, but still I really really really don't like these things and I think they should stop.

And that's it. You can't say I didn't tell you world. Shall we wrestle now?

The cup is full.

Happy Solstice world! I hope those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are enjoying all that gorgeous summer daylight and making the most of it, dancing around bonfires, drinking home made wine and praying to your horned gods. Or however you like spending it. If you're using the opportunity to go for pleasant walks with the dog, then that's quite cool too.

And those of us in the north, however dreary it might be, however cold it still is even though it's warmed up about 8 degrees from yesterday and however much the snow has turned to slush and ice and possibly it's a bit rainy.. can be happy in the knowledge that tomorrow will be a slightly longer day, and the day after that will be slightly longer still, and the day after that, still longer and so on and so forth. Not only that, but over the years humans have created holidays that fall around this time of year to get their minds off the depressing mood that constant cold and dark and drizzle creates.. so pretty much everyone has something to celebrate at this time of year, even if you're in the light and sunny south, due to migration and stuff.

So it really is quite good to be today. Seriously, it is.